The Doukhobor Village
Museum in Castlegar, British
Columbia faithfully
reproduces the Doukhobor
community as it lived in the
Boundary-Kootenay region
between 1908-1939. The
museum, located on land
originally owned by the
Doukhobors, is near the

Brilliant Suspension Bridge,
a span hand built by the sect
in 1913 that has since been
declared a National Heritage
Site. Close by too is the
scenic tomb of the
Doukhobors’ charismatic
leader, Peter V. Verigin.
Using documents and
images found within its

archives, the museum has
created a virtual exhibit
that focuses on the Russian
origins of the Doukhobors,
whose official name was the
Christian Community of
Universal Brotherhood, and on
the persecution the group
suffered there. It follows
their migration to

Saskatchewan, where they
thrived in the villages they
established until new
government regulations in
1907 forced them to forfeit
their land. It traces their
subsequent move to British
Columbia and details the
history of the communes they
set up in that province